Cooktops are, as a rule, seated in the cutout of the countertop of a row of kitchen base cabinets from above and are fixed from below by means of suitable attachment elements such as so-called clamping brackets. In this connection, the problem can occur that the attachment elements can only be mounted laterally for reasons of space when lower cabinets are present.
Furthermore, additional electric apparatus can be installed below the countertop such as a baking oven or the like. These additional electric apparatus must be taken out when assembling the cooktop in the manner described above. Furthermore, it can happen that the cooktop is wider than one of the two cabinet components beneath the countertop. These cabinet components are separated from each other by a center wall. In all of these cases, it is very difficult in the event of a defect to remove the cooktop because this is only possible when the attachment elements are accessible from below. The circumstances mentioned above makes this very difficult in practically all situations which can occur.
In the meantime, other systems have become known wherein cooktops no longer are attached from below in the countertop cutout but are reliably fixed with latching means from above by means of clamping and latching elements which correspond to each other and are arranged on the cooktop as well as on the countertop cutout. In addition to providing a simple assembly from above, this affords the further advantage that the cooktop can be disconnected from the countertop cutout with relative ease. Accordingly, in DE 91 08 044 U1, which constitutes the preamble of the present claim 1, an arrangement is suggested wherein the entire cooktop is seated during assembly from above in the countertop cutout provided therefor and is secured in this position via snap or latch connections. For this purpose, clamping springs are provided laterally on the cooktop frame and these clamping springs coact with holding means such as round pins. The holding means are directed horizontally inwardly and are attached to the sides of the cutout of the countertop. The clamping springs are themselves held via a clamping connection on the cooktop frame so as to be laterally displaceable in order to provide a tolerance equalization with reference to the holding means.
The cooktop known from DE 93 01 942 U1 differs from the arrangement described above only in that the clamping springs are not mounted on the cooktop frame but on the sides of the cutout of the countertop and the corresponding holding means (here latches) are arranged laterally on the cooktop frame and not in the cutout of the countertop.
These known constructions have the disadvantage that either the assembly tolerances are too tight or, as described above, complex constructive means are provided which are intended to provide a certain tolerance equalization. This is made more difficult in that, with the known cooktops, the assembly of the connecting means in the countertop cutout and the assembly of the corresponding connecting means on the frame of the cooktop is carried out at different locations so that large deviations in the position of the connecting means, which are associated with each other, can be expected relative to each other. In this way, the connecting means are mounted on the frame of the cooktop by the manufacturer thereof; whereas, the connecting means are mounted in the countertop cutout by the kitchen contractor at the work site.